Bookwild - Books to Read if You Love You (or Joe Goldberg)

Episode Date: March 9, 2023

This week, we are talking about thrillers we are excited to read!Follow us on Instagram:Gare @gareindeedreadsKate @thegirlwiththecookonthecouchBooks We Talked AboutBlood SugarThey Never LearnLook What You Made Me DoNever Saw Me ComingGone AgainNice GirlsWhite IvyThe ShardsOn the Savage SideBath HausCreepFreakLittle SecretsThings We Do in the DarkNever Have I EverThe Favorite SisterWatch Out for HerCouples Wanted Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

Hey guys, welcome to the Killing the Tea podcast. This is Gare and Kate. And we are going to be discussing all things, chills, thrills, and kills. Kate and I are going to be talking about our favorite books, TV shows and movies that are in the thriller or crime fiction genre, as well as some reading habits and other items related to how we met on Bookstagram that will fit in with this podcast. So, Thank you so much for joining us, and we hope that you have fun and get totally terrified. I didn't really pay attention to the pages, like the page count in books, until I started talking to you more because for whatever reason, just when you read it on Kindle, you just, sometimes you just don't even conceptualize it or think about it because you don't see the physical book. Right. And then I got Helbin in 9th House, and I was like, holy shit, these were long books. I know that's how I felt about the shards Oh yeah

When I was like reading it like it took me a couple of days So I was like well you know it's really good I'm into it whatever and then All of a sudden I got my physical copy And I was like damn that is big massive Yeah Yeah At least it's good big massive

Yeah I'm going to apologize in advance. I sound like a weirdo because I have some sort of cold. I don't know what it is. I'm not stuffy. It just hurts when I swallow. You know, it is problematic.

I mean, it's so I'm not doing anything this weekend. You're going to be in your weekend sweatshirt at home. So, yeah. So I apologize if my voice goes out. or if I sound like a frog. But it was like in my mind when I woke up this morning, like I was like, oh, you don't sound that bad. Because I was like brushing my teeth and I'm like,

red jacket, yellow jacket, red jacket, yellow jacket. And I'm like, oh, I don't sound that different. But then like my boss was like, oh, you sound like shit. And I was like, oh, thanks. Thank you for that. Yeah. Yeah. But I have my hot tea. I wish I could hand you some tea.

Oh, I was just about to say I wish I could hear you. can you some tea through the screen. Mm-hmm. My cold 911 tea from David's tea, which I love, and the turtle Native American mug that my aunt got me. Aw, I love it. I also love. So, but yeah, I am very excited for today. Mm-hmm.

I'm very excited for... A person appeared. Is it Tyler? Yes, it was. Well, obviously. Who else was? Let's hope. Yeah, you're like, oh, sorry, somebody just broke into my house.

You can continue that in a second. Arian. Very excited for upcoming things, which leads me to my icebreaker. I'm so excited that you have one. I have one. So if you follow me on Instagram, you know that I am a huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, scream fan. Like, I think it's the best franchise in the world.

not just horror franchise, but like franchise altogether. Like, it is my jam. Love it. So the sixth movie comes out on Friday. And rumor has it that the seventh movie has already been greenlit. So people are like freaking out, freaking their freak. So my question for you is, out of any movie that you could pick, if you could choose what movie got a sequel. or what series continued for another movie, which would you pick?

Oh, that's a good question. Okay. Let me think. I'm going to have to think hard on this one. And if you want, we can just start recording or continue to record, and then maybe at the end of the episode, you can be like... That's a good idea. Yeah. It'll be an ending icebreaker.

Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. think about it. Because now I need to think back. I don't watch as many movies as I read books. So it'll slowly come to me. It could be a movie that does, that was like a solo movie that like didn't have a sequel.

It could be a franchise that you want to see another movie of. Maybe a TV show that you want another season of. You know, the good thing about a podcast is we can bend our own rules. That's true. We are in charge here. Yes. Yeah. And speaking of new seasons, the second half of you comes out soon, season four.

Two days. Two days. Well, when this airs one day. Mm-hmm. So amazing, amazing idea from you was, you know, hey, everybody loves you. Like, who doesn't love it? Who doesn't? So if you are caught up and you're going to binge all of those episodes on the day that they come out.

Yes. Which I can't because my TV partner slash my mom, who is a huge U fan, is Anna Carouse. So she's enjoying Cartagena and all of these beautiful, like, Cosmel, all these amazing locations. So good for her. Right. I'm going to get rid of whatever cold I have and pick her up in a week in however many days. So I won't be able to watch them until at least the 19th. which is when she comes down.

And you and you watched the first part of you before me because I was having a similar issue where Tyler was traveling. So I didn't watch it until recently. And then when I was watching, I was like, oh my gosh. We need to talk about books that you can read if you love you. Yes. And I love this idea. Mm-hmm. So.

I am interested to see if we picked any of the same ones. I'm very curious because I picked five. Uh-huh. Me too. And I was like, let me look. I think that like there's three of them that you're going to be like, that's a good idea or like, oh, I like that. Two or three that I could see us having the same ones of, but I was like, who gives a shit? Yeah. We'll see. So because it was your idea, because you are the baby genius.

that you are, I think you should kick it off. Yeah. Well, if you hear rustling, will you let me know? Yeah. Wrestling. Yes. I have a blanket on my lap because whatever I have going on with this cold is giving me the chills, which I'm not used to because I'm so like warm. So I'm like snuggling under a blanket. And if you hear it wrestling, just be like, knock it off, Gera. Stop fidgeting. I'll tell you. Yeah. Just yell at me. Yes, I will tell you if you're Russell. Yeah, you do. I do.

I'm just totally distracted now. But the first one that actually came to mind is what I'll start with. And I have talked about it before, but it's just too perfect for this. So if you love a likable villain blood sugar by Sasha Rothschild would be an amazing fun read for you, especially if you just finished you and you're like, I need a similar experience. So blood sugar. Though she may be a murderer, Ruby is not a sociopath. She's an animal loving therapist with a thriving practice. She's felt empathy and sympathy.

She's had long-lasting friendships and relationships and has a husband, Jason, whom she adores. But the homicide detectives at Miami Beach PD are not convinced of her happy marriage. When we meet Ruby, she is in a police interrogation room being accused of Jason's murder, which, ironically, is one murder that she did not commit, though her vicious mother-in-law and a scandal-obsessed public believe differently. As she undergoes questioning, Ruby's mind races back to all the details of her life that led her to this exact moment and to the three dead bodies in her wake. Because though she may not have killed her husband, Ruby certainly isn't innocent. And the tagline for the book is she's

accused of four murders. She's only guilty of three. So unique. So fun. I love that book. Yeah. I devoured it. That's such a good choice, too. I also love. when the synopsis to a book gives you like a very like ominous twist in the plot like when it's like you know she's in questioning for her husband's murder and you're like oh another book about the murdered husband husband and then it's like but I mean you know

this is the one murder she didn't commit because she's also killed like three people before you're like oh Oh, go on. She might be a little... Amy Dunn would read this book. Yes, she would, for research. Amy Dunn would devour this book. If Amy Dunn had a bookstagram, it would be nothing but different pictures of blood sugar from different angles.

Yes, and it is a beautiful book. So it would be worthy of the pictures. Yes, 100%. I love that book. It was so good. Yeah, it's really good. And she's really cool. Sasha is.

Mm-hmm. She's like a fiery, like little redhead, too, isn't she? Yeah. She's a lot, physically a lot like, like, Ruby. I love when you have a redhead character who's, like, named, like, Ruby. I know. It's, like, so on the nose. It's, like, so cool.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, we loved Ruby. I know. I cried. You did? Mm-hmm. I'm just a dried-up old prune.

ain't getting in tears out of me. I cry easily. I always have. I'm not. I'm not a crier. I used to be when I was a drinker. Like my friend Tyler would like give me like, it's okay. Like, you know, like he'd like say things about like, well, you just cry more than I do.

It's okay. A good cries every good, like good now and then. And then like we were talking about something the other day. And like, he was like, when was last time you cried? And I was like, April. And he's like, oh my God. The fact that you know the one impresses me. was when I shed my skin and became sober.

I get it. I never had a drinking problem. I just realized that I had unhealthy mental emotions. Yeah. Unhealthy mental emotions. Kind of works. When I was drinking and I was like, you know what? Alcohol's not good for me anymore.

So I had one good cry and got out of my system. And now I love the hell out of mock tails. which. Ooh, you had some good ones, didn't you? I fucking did. So there's this restaurant in Canada that has like the, like, it's just like such a cool vibe. Like dark lighting, which we love.

Like, wood, you know, like wood everywhere. Just like chic and cool and dark lighting. And they have, they make wood fired pizzas. But the wood fire oven is in the middle of the restaurant. So like you're just like. chilling with your friends vibe in and like see this guy just like fucking twirling pizzas shoving him in the oven taking him out doing a little shimmy oh my gosh i love that do you see the popcorn guy on tic-tok no if not we'll just skip forward i'll send it to you later and you'll know why i asked

okay for next week um so i went to that restaurant on friday with my friend nicole because my friend Nicole has two very young girls. So for her to have a Friday night where she can get out of the house, it's like kind of a big deal to her, right? So we go there to the place is called Schnitzels. It's in Cornwall, Ontario. So I went there with my friend Nicole and had a spicy virgin margarita. And then my friend Hannah, who lives hours away, came to visit and I went again last night and had the same place. Oh, yeah, because, well, my friend, Hannah, like, she was like, you know, like, she, she kind of did dry January, and she's like, I don't really mind going out to dinner and not

drinking, you know, and she's like, I'll have one now and then, but basically she was like, you know, we've been having, like, her and her husband have been having mock tales at home sometimes. Yeah. And she's gotten into reading. And so she was like, let's go out to dinner. And I want to try these mock tales that you love. So I had another virgin margarita last night, and it was spicier last night than it was Friday.

But that's my story. Little social butterfly that I was in the past week. I know. Now no one will, no one's going to see me again until summer. Right. That's how I feel when that happens. But your girl Ruby, if she had a cool older sister. with red hair

whose name is Scarlet then I would say you know there's something about Joe Goldberg in you like books and the show that like you're like Joe like this what you're doing is not right

you're kind of just following love sometimes he feels like a vigilante and sometimes he just feels like an unhinged serial killer and I love that And him. But if you like the unhinged vigilante that you want to root for, then you should meet my girl, Scarlett Clark. She is from the book They Never Learned by Lane Fargo, which we talked about before and we love.

Scarlett is an exceptional English professor, but she's even better at getting away with murder. Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she's avoided drawing attention to herself. But as she's preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything's going according to her master plan until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure. Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background.

Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident, everything Carly wishes she could be, and the two girls form an intent friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay. and turning her fantasies about revenge into reality. That one also, like, fits how there's, like, a dark academia vibe to this season of you. Mm-hmm. I know. You're like, it's why I picked it.

It was one of my backups because I was like, yeah, so, like, I had, like, six. And I was like, then at least if we have some that are the same. And that was, that was my backup. Do you want to hear how this played out in my head? Yeah. I went to like pick that one and I was like, Kate's going to pick that. That's hilarious. And then I was like, because what I do on Tuesdays is I write down on a post-it note, what ones I'm going to pick and then I like eliminate or whatever.

I was like, Kate's going to pick that one. And then I was like, you know what? A couple weeks ago we picked the same thing and I gave it to her. So if you said anything, I feel like, I gave you one a couple weeks ago. You're like, I'm taking this one. I'm taking Scarlet. I'm taking Scarlett. That's amazing.

Because let's be honest, the only two authors that we would actually fight over like, no, she's mine, she's mine, she's mine, Alice Feeney and Lane Fargo, right? So it makes sense. Yeah, it's not surprising. No. That's for sure. I loved that one so much, though. And it's kind of steamy in the way that the earlier seasons of you were.

Did you sidebar? Did you see the interview that Penn Badgley did where he talked. about how he asked to do less intimate scenes because he's married now. Yes. What are your feelings? Because I was like, but you're an actor. Okay. So if you are watching you and you want to see Joe getting...

If you want to see Joe get it on, if you want to see Joe naked like I do, it sucks, right? Yeah. It sucks. I think at this point when you're in the fourth season of a show, yeah. The love scenes, the lovemaking, the sex, the dirty, whatever, doesn't need to be as intense an eye-opening as say it is on euphoria. Yeah.

Because you're fourth season in the show, right? So for me, I actually was like, ah, damn, I wanted to see Joe kind of, you know, shedding some clothes. but for him and his wife, I respect it because if I were married to an actor, which Jacob Lurdy, if you're listening, I'm just waiting for you to pop the big question. Just waiting. I would be very happy that my husband made that decision out of comfort for it. Because, I mean, how many times do you have that stereotype, like stereotypical thing where two actors are filming a bunch of sex scenes in a movie and then they develop feelings for each other. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

That's what I was going to say. Yeah. You know, Kristen Stewart cheated on Robert Pattinson with some film director. That's what I thought. And now he's Batman. I mean, so granted, Kristen Stewart, I think is. Yeah. I just thought it was interesting because purely from the standpoint of if you marry an actor, I feel like you expect that to happen. But I completely agree with you that it's not as, it's not like super necessary to the show. And I still feel like they pulled off sexual attention better than I thought they would because I saw that interview before we even watched the season. And then when I was watching it, I was like, I don't know that I would have noticed too much. I don't think I would have picked up on it much if I hadn't read that interview.

Yeah, I felt the same way because I watched it before I read that interview or saw that. But there's also things that are like in people's clauses. Right? Like I know Neff Campbell is someone who has like a known nudity clause in her contracts. And she was in wild things, which is one of like the sexiest movies of all time. Right. So you know, you can do things like that. It's respectful to him. But we also don't know. know if maybe originally the script for you, maybe he just felt that some of the sex scenes were a little too much, like whether they were too graphic or too often. So that could be another thing too. Right. I mean, they gave us a big old pierce penis. They did give us pierce penis. So we don't know what other tricks they had up their sleeves. You're right. You know. You're right. There's our, there is our, what is the word?

There's our U tangent or our Jopalry tangent. Yeah. But if you are a fan of lovable serial killers, again, which was actually what I said about my first one. you should read look what made you do wow look what you made me do did I steal yours

yep you could you could talk about the sequel no because the sequel the synopsis to the sequel is a spoiler oh you're right it is you're right so everybody knows now

it's kind of a series by Elaine Murphy and it is about Carrie. Carrie wants a normal life. Carrie Lawrence doesn't need a happily ever after. She'll just settle for after. After a decade of helping her sister hide her victims after a lifetime of lies. She just wants to be safe, boring, and not trekking through the woods at night with a dead body wrapped in a carpet.

Becca Lawrence wants to get away with murder. Becca Lawrence doesn't believe in happily ever after because she's already happy. She's gotten away with murder for a decade and has blackmailed her sister into helping her hide the evidence. What more could a girl want? But first, they have to stop a serial killer. When 13 bodies are discovered in their small town, people are shocked, but not as shocked as Carrie, who thought she knew all the details of Becca's sordid pastime. When Becca swears, she's not behind the grizzly new crimes.

They realize the town has a second serial killer who has the sisters in his sights, and what he wants is Carrie. and it's um the other reason i thought of it is because it's really snarky dark comedy which is as i was watching this new season of you i was even texting you and i was like uh i was like i forgot how fucking funny joe gulberg is and this book is really funny so in its darkness and twisty ways. Mm-hmm.

I love it. Yeah, that was fun. That was a fun one. That's such a fun book. I love the snarkiness in it. I love the sequel. I'm, I can't wait to see what else she does. I know. It's again, you have a theme with blood sugar in this where they kind of give you this. There's a serial killer in my small town.

Yes. And all of these bodies were found. But it's not my sister. serial killer. It's another person who's a serial killer. You know what I mean? Like it's kind of like there's almost like a way in the synopsis. Yeah. But not because there's so

much more. There's so many more. Yeah. But yeah, I love that one. Becca's like my jam. She's very cool. When I like asked her about writing the funny parts too, she was just like I know people say they're funny but I was just kind of like

what would I think in this situation if I was dealing with this with my sister? And I was like, that's even funnier that that's your answer. Right? Like, she's just like normal to her. She's like, I didn't even think it was that funny. I was like, oh, okay. Yeah, I love that. I love that book so much.

It's so good. She, like, perfectly, like, captured so many, like, cinematic, creepy moments that would be, like, really well on film. Yes. And, like, the darkness to it. Mm-hmm. I would love to see Victoria Pedretti. Yes. As Carrie.

Speaking of you. And Emma Roberts as Carrie. No, Becca. Emma Roberts is Becca. Yeah. That would be really good. I would love to see that. So that's my contribution since you stole my book.

I did feel it. But I'm in a... I don't have a transition other than the fact that I'm listing off this book in case you already put it down. You're like, this one you might have stolen. I'm like, I'm just going to take this one before, because this is the, I don't think my other you would pick, even though I have a really good transition for a book that I did pick, but I'm saving it for last because of my love for it.

I got to get this one because yours is, like, your theme is. books that kind of give you a little bit of a spoiler, a little bit of like a juz in the in the plot. And mine must be four out of five of mine are dark academia. Ooh, nice. So mine, next one is Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kiryan. Did you pick that? No, I didn't. Okay. Well, thank you. You're welcome. I still need to. Oh, you haven't read it? I haven't read it yet.

You told me it was one of your trifecta, so it's like in my list, but I haven't read it yet. Yeah, it's in my dreams I hold a knife. Nice Girls by Catherine Dang. And never saw me coming by Vera Kiran. So if you are in a reading rot, because you read two books that just did not work for you, the one that you're reading now, that is working for you, this puppy right here gone again by Mika Kent. Yes.

It is a very quick read. I'm 20% of the way through already. It's very, very quick. So when you finish this, you're going to be on a high because you're going to be like, that was great. I don't want this ball to stop rolling. No.

This is your next book. Nice. Dark academia. It's they never learn vibes. It's kind of you vibes. But you will love this book. It is about Chloe. a freshman honor student,

leggings wearing hot girl next door, who also happens to be a psychopath. Her hobbies include Yogalotti's, frat parties, and plotting to kill Will Bachman. A childhood friend who grievously wronged her. Chloe is one of seven students at her D.C. based college, who are part of an unusual clinical study for psychopaths.

Students like herself who lack empathy and cannot comprehend emotions like fear or guilt. This study led by renowned psychologist, requires them to wear smart watches that track their moods and movements. When one of the students in the study is found murdered in the psychology building, a dangerous game of cat and mouse begins, and Chloe goes from hunter to prey. As she races to identify the killer and put her own plan into action, she'll be forced to decide if she can trust any of her fellow psychopaths, and everyone knows you should never trust a a psychopath. Never. Never. Ever. You will love this. Okay. You got the snarkiness. It sounds so good. Something I think that I love about this that like we kind of find funny about like, look what you made

me do is the plot to this one. When you have a psychopath who has no fear, guilt, or empathy, this girl is going to this college and she's like, I'm going to fucking murder this guy. Okay, like Will Bachman is going to be like dead, dead, dead. And then somebody dies in this program she's in and it's like, fuck me. Like all I'm trying to do is plot a murder and now I have to like try to like survive a psychopath and I'm kind of annoyed. I love that. So you will absolutely.

That will be my next one. I'll read that one next. And then maybe I'll read nice girls You will love it. Okay. I'm just going to say it. You need to be in a good mood when you read nice girls. I need to be in a good mood.

I don't want you to leave me as a friend. Oh, is it that heartbreaking? It's heartbreaking. It's sad. And it also is very bleak. Cover to cover. Okay. You know.

So you have your, I mean, the plot to nice girls is literally like a girl who gets kicked out of college for no reason. Well, not for no reason. She gets kicked out of college for a reason you don't know. Yeah. Goes back to her hometown and like her friend who's this like beautiful blonde, popular social media influencer goes missing. Mm-hmm. And she thinks it's related to other people who have gone missing. and it shows how the other people that she thinks it could be related to,

one of them is a woman of color. So you have the woman of color and the cops are like, run away. No, she came from a poor family, you know. You have the popular blonde girl who goes missing and there's flyer search parties. The police are taking it seriously from like 30 seconds after she doesn't answer her cell phone. Right. So, but it also does. deals with in a sense of, you know, bleakness, it deals with what happens to women,

who they are, where they come from, what their lifestyle is like. There are horrible things that happen to women when they go missing in our country and across the world. Yeah. So, but I think you will also love it. Yeah, consider you girls. Because I'll tell you why, I was like, my home girl's going to love the woman inside. And then you were like, that was really good, but it was really weak.

It was sad. You loved it, but you were a little depressed. I was a little depressed. I want to be depressed. I want to be emotionally ruined at the end of a thriller. Yes, you do. Did you read White Ivy? Yeah, I really liked that one.

That one was fun. That one was pretty depressing too. It was. You're right. It's one. I'm like, yeah. The look on your face, you were like, you know, come to think of it. Am I desensitized from some of these bleak books?

Oh, my gosh. I just want to be emotionally traumatized. I'll be emotionally traumatized. The shards. The shards, the last of us. Oh, my God. You're be fucked up. Also, since I'm on side notes right now,

you are going to freak out about how perfect the euphoria references are in episode seven of poker face. You're going to die. It was so funny. And you're just going to love the episode. It's a great episode. I thought of that earlier. I definitely want to check it out. Do you think it's something that's appropriate to watch with your family?

Yeah. It's very, it's tame. Okay. There are. I don't think there are any sex scenes. That one. That's what I was thinking of. That was making me so sad.

And it felt like nothing was happening. The bleakest of the bleat. That was the biggest. Every trigger warning known to man is in this book. Yeah. I wanted to like it. I love that, though. I love that, though.

I love how we can love so many books. And I'm like, you know, it's just like funny. Like, we have so much in common. and I read on the savage side. I was like, I'm obsessed with this book. It's going to be one of my favorite books of the year. And like, you were just like, you know, it just didn't work for me. Yeah.

Too much prose for me. Too literary. Yeah. So my next one is actually one that you recommended to me. And I read recently and I loved it so much. I could not put it down. And that is Bath House by PJ Vernon. If you, if what you love about you is the kind of like creepy, obsessive relationship vibes, this would be one for you.

Oliver Park, a young recovering addict from Indiana, finally has everything he ever wanted. Sobriety and a loving, wealthy partner in Nathan, a prominent D.C. trauma surgeon. Despite their difference in age and disparate backgrounds, they've made a perfect life together. With everything to lose, Oliver shouldn't be visiting house. a gay bathhouse, but through the entrance he goes and it's a line crossed. Inside, he follows a man into a private room and it's the final line. Whatever happens next, Nathan can never know. But then everything goes wrong, terribly wrong, and Oliver Bailey escapes with his life. He races home in full-blown terror as the hand-shaped ruse grows dark on his neck. The truth will destroy Nathan

and everything they have together, so Oliver does the thing he used to do so well. He lies. What follows is a classic runaway train narrative full of exquisite escalations, edge of your seat thrills, and oh my God, twists. It is so fun. Lots of toxic relationships in it too, but like in an entertaining way, the way you is. If you are like Kate and you're a little you know, devastated that there's not going to be hot graphic sex in this upcoming season of you your little horn dogs

then Bathhouse has plenty of steam and sex in it so whatever's lacking on this fourth season of you you'll get from Bathhouse. That's for damn sure. Yeah, that's it. I just love

that that is now my ankle. I'm like, I needed more sex. I'm not going to see Penn Badgley's pecker, I'm not watching it. Yeah. But yeah.

It is as steamy as bathhouse, coincidentally. Oh, yeah. My recommendation is about a stalker. This is very steamy, stalker, and extremely

unsettling from one of my favorite voices in crime fiction. Jar of hearts. No, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. It works. It works, but everyone... It does work. Everyone who's gotten this far in the podcast has read Gerr of hearts by this. My baby.

Yeah. It is another Jennifer Hillier book, though. It is her first book called Creep, which is based off from the Radiohead song, I believe. Really? That's cool. Yeah. This book, I loved. I read the duology recently. recently. It is about Dr. Sheila Tau, a professor of psychology. She's an expert in human behavior

and begins an affair with the sexy, charming grad student, Ethan Wolfe. She knew she was playing with fire when she started this affair, but was consumed with lust when they were together, riddled with guilt when they weren't. She knows the three-month fling with her teaching assistant has to end. After all, Sheila's finally engaged to a loving and kind investment banker who adores her, and she's taking control of her life. But when she attempts to end the affair, Ethan Wolfe won't let her walk away. No one else can. Ethan has plans for Sheila. Plans involve posting a sex video that would surely get her fired and destroy her prestigious career, plans to make her pay for rejecting him, and as she attempts to counter his every

threatening move without her colleagues or fiance discovering her most intimate secrets. A shattering crime rocks the university. A female student, star athlete, is found stabbed to death. Someone is raising the stakes of violence, sex,

and blackmail. And before she knows it, Sheila is caught in a terrifying cat and mouse game with the lover she couldn't resist, who is now a monster who won't let her go. That sounds thrilling. A. I love a stalker. I love an affair. I love like there's just, Jennifer Hillier's very like gritty with everything. Yes. And Jennifer

Hilley's like very gritty like where she'll be like, Sheila was grading papers and the next thing she know her ankles were behind her ears and she was doing anal with Ethan. And you're just like, Jennifer. Amazing like that. It's just like everything is. Jennifer. And then Sheila carries. on with her day. Yes. Isn't it like the opening line of things we do in the dark about her nipples being hard because she's cold? It's at least in the very beginning and that's even just like how the story starts. Yeah, it's basically this woman. Yeah, she's arrested for her husband's murder and she all she can think about is how hard her nipples are in the back of a police car. Yes. But like that would that would be a viable concern if you got dragged out of your house, like without a bra on in the middle of the night.

Yeah. You probably would be thinking about that. Yep. Yep. Especially when they're like, your husband's dead and we think you did it. You're like, shit. So good. So good.

And then there's also Freak by Jennifer Hillier, which is the second book. So it's like a duology. I love it. I'm going to read those. I recommend all Jennifer Hillier books. I know. I still mean to read obviously those. What is the Little Secrets?

What's the pink cover one? Little Secrets. Yep. And Wonderland. And Wonderland. I do need to work through more of hers. Little Secrets is her lightest one. Okay.

So it's if you are, if you. Yes, I did too. Very bleak. Yeah, that one was bleak. Little Secrets is is the one where if you want something by Jennifer Hillier, because you love Jennifer Hillier's writing, which you should and everybody should.

But you don't want that super bleakness. That's a good one to go with. Probably compared to other authors, it is probably bleak, but compared to her other books, it's not as bleak. Yeah. Does that make sense? that makes sense to me from the two I have read

but I also picked a book about friendship obsession oh my god like us pretty much well I would love if you stalked me I know you would take the compliment I'd be like oh my god I'd be like leaving you snacks outside my house

yeah I'd be like leaving you like a little like gift bag like a little like no that's like here's the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Have good day. Yeah, you make me snacks. Yeah. Oh, my good. Let me know when you clock out from your stocking job and we can go out to dinner.

That would be funny. Now I'm probably going to have a dream about it since. I hope you do. You're in my dream world now. Yeah. Have a dream that you're stalking me, but I like leave a little like cravings box from Taco Bell outside for you. That's a good dream. it's probably too happy for me to have because I like have 90% bad dreams unfortunately.

You want to talk about bleak. Have you always been that way or just since you met me and started reading the books that I recommend? No, I was always that way and I would have like night terrors in the sense that like I would be like throwing my shoes at stuff and they were like struggling to wake me up. it's yeah and I used to sleepwalk a lot more than I do now like I would just appear in my parent well my parents never slept in the same room but I would like appear in my mom's room and she'd be like you need to go back to me I mean I listen I'm the one that told you about my dream where the man was stabbing me in my sleep and all I was doing was yelling out to Siri descriptions to Siri yeah

yelling out descriptions to him or to Siri about the man that was murdering me. I still think about that scene of your dream sometimes. That's how it was very much like. I think the only thing that made me. Yeah. Also go. Go. I'll remember.

No, you go. There's also, there's also a movie that has like a really similar scene in it that I saw. I'm trying not to tell you what it is because I don't want to ruin it. But there was a movie that I saw a couple days after you had that dream that uses that. And that's all I'll say. But it blew my mind.

No, I want to know the movie. Missing the searching kind of sequel with, oh, okay. I can't think of you. Yeah. Yeah. And it, they like use that in the movie. And I was like, it's, it's funny because my friend Nicole and I were, we've always been like talking about that Idaho case. of the four murdered college students

and how much, even though we are so far from Idaho, how much it impacted us, like, and how scared we were and like how, like, you know, the dream would have scared me more. But in my dream, it was a combination of first person viewpoint and watching it like it was a movie. So when I was like, I rolled over in my bed, I could see it like out of my own eyes, right? Like, as I would anything in life.

And I saw the man there. And I saw the knife, like, glisten from the moonlight coming in from my bedroom. And I was like, oh, fuck. And I, like, rolled over and tried to, like, get away on the other side of my bed. And then when he started to attack me, I was watching it from the end of my bed. And I could see myself getting murdered. Like, I could see, like, my bloody hand, like, grabbing my phone and, like, yelling things. and like, blood flying everywhere

and, like, my sheets and, like, everything. It was just insane. You're also the first person I've talked to about switching perspectives because I have that happen in my dreams, but I've never, like, talked to anyone about it. Just, it's never come up. Do you know what I think it is?

I'm, I don't. I, I always read things where, I always read things about when, women, not on purpose, but I feel like I pick this out when women are sexually assaulted or robbed or attacked, they always say that they had an out-of-body experience where they were watching it happen to themselves. And that's something that's always stuck with me whenever I hear a story about that or something where they say that something so traumatic like that, that they have that out-of-body experience. So I think that like in my mind, I was like, that

must be horrifying to go through anything like that, but to also have that out-of-body experience where you're basically watching it happen to yourself and you're like, you know, doing what you can to fight trauma as it's happening. Right. And I think that's what happened in my dream. I think in my dream, like, I was seeing it from my eyes until I rolled over and was like, you're not fucking getting anywhere. Like, this is what's going to happen to you in about, like, two seconds.

And then I started seeing it from, yeah. And then I woke up the next morning I was like, oh my God, that was fucking crazy, but it would also be a really good idea for a book. I know. It is a really, like, all of that so cinematic, which is why I have thought of it. My zombie one when Tyler was in Anaheim, my zombie demon one was, that one stuck with me. And to the next night, just the image was so fucked up. So I do have one dream that I had like I would say probably 25 years ago at this point.

Whoa. And it has still stuck with me to this day. In my house, the back of it is like there's my backyard. There's a barbed wire fence. There's a field and there's a forest. So like if you see anything back there, it's not good. Right. And but there's like I've shown you this and told you.

there's like four or five different ways to get into my house. And one of them is a back door to my kitchen, which I always make sure is locked. And I had a dream one time that I was walking into my kitchen to lock the door. But as my hand went to touch the doorknob, the door flew open. And like all of this wind came like at me and I couldn't like push the door shut. And then I woke up. That's terrifying. I think it was the Blair Witch that did it.

Probably. Dreams, man. Fucking crazy. Crazy. Now that we've had our dream corner. Did I even, I can't even remember if I said the name, but the friendship obsession book. Oh, yeah.

Is Never Have I Ever by Joshua and Jackson. So if I said it already, oh well. Yeah. So Amy Way is proud of her ordinary life and the simple pleasures that come with it. Teaching diving lessons, baking cookies for new neighbors, helping her best friend Charlotte run their local book club. Her greatest joy is her family, her devoted professor, husband, her spirited 15-year-old stepdaughter, her adorable infant son, and of course the steadfast and supportive Charlotte. But Amy's sweet, uncomplicated life begins to unravel when the mysterious and alluring Angelica Rue

arrives on her doorstep one book club night. Sultry and magnetic, Rue beguiles the group with her feral charm. She keeps the wine flowing and lures them into a game of spilling secrets. Everyone thinks it's naughty, harmless fun. Only Amy knows better. Something wicked has come her way. A she-devil in a pricey red sports car who seems to know the terrible truth about who she is and what she once did.

When they're alone, Rue tells her that if she doesn't give her what she asked for, what she deserves, she's going to make Amy pay for her sins one way or another. To protect herself and her family and to save the life she's built, Amy must beat the devil at her own clever game, matching wits with Rue in an escalating war of hidden past and unearthed secrets. Amy knows the consequences if she can't beat Rue. What terrifies her is everything she could lose if she wins. Oh, it's so fun.

That's one that I will reread someday. I don't blame you. I really enjoyed that book. I also think the reason that it's so perfect for you is, you know, you is kind of this story. The reason that this show started off is because sometimes you don't realize what you're posting on social media. So it was very easy for Joe Goldberg to find this woman, find her social media, find out where she hangs out, find out who her friends are, what she's interested in. you know, there's so much that you put out without thinking it, like, that with this as well, it's like you have this tale of obsession, but it's somebody out there that knows more about you than you

realize. Yes. It's creepy. I mean, somebody could come up to me and be like, you like really bleak thrillers, Taco Bell and Tall Toxic Man. And I'd be like, I'm getting in this van. Right. Up Braden. Yeah. I love that book.

That was a creepy feeling. Yeah. Yeah. Because sometimes people put things out there, you know, and leads them to dangerous situations. Like, you know, like we always say, if you're going to go on the real housewives, don't do it if you are doing illegal activity. Yeah. There's a lot of stuff you just shouldn't do if you're on reality TV. Yeah. But we don't even have time. Speaking of reality television. Ooh, love it.

The best segment ever. My last, my best, my favorite. The laugh out loud, thrilling murder mystery for all friends of Bravo. The favorite sister by Miss Jessica Null. I need to read that one too. You're going to fucking love it. Brett and Kelly have always towed the line between supportive sisters and bitter rivals. Growing up, Brett was the problem child in the shadow of the brilliant and beautiful Kelly.

In adulthood, all that has changed. Kelly is a struggling single mother, and Brett has skyrocketed into such success, which has been chronicled on a reality TV show called Gold Diggers. When Kelly manipulates herself onto the show and into Brett's world, Brett is right to be threatened. Kelly and only Kelly knows her younger sister's appalling secret, and it could ruin her. When the truth comes out in the explosive final weekend of filming,

neither of them even expected that the season would end in murder. Murder. I paused when I was reading that, and I might have seemed surprised, and it was because I started to drop my father, phone when I was reading the synopsis. And I was like, Brett and Kelly have always been supportive sisters on this reality show. Brett and Kelly have always been supportive of sisters.

And I was like, what the fuck? But yeah, it's amazing. I know. Multiple POVs, a group of very distinct women. I love it. And Jessica Nol, like said, she watched so many of the Real Housewives shows when she was writing this. Mm-hmm. I definitely need to read this then.

She sent me a personal signed copy. That's so exciting. Mm-hmm. She's the best. I love her. I love her very much. Jessica Knoll, if you ever listen to this because you are just, I don't even know, who's the ultimate cool girl? Jessica Knoll.

In what? Yeah. Anything. Anything. Like Molly Ringwald, right? Mm-hmm. She would be one. Yep.

Like, Jessica Null, Naomi Campbell, Rihanna. Rihanna, definitely. Okay, that's mine. Yep. Bad girl, Rie, Rie. I feel the way about Jessica Nol being the ultimate cool girl that America feels about Rihanna being the ultimate cool girl. That's my final stance. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Like, if I were a woman, I'd be, like, shopping where she shops. I know. She's just trying. Fucking really cool. And she does not have to try one bit to be that fucking cool. She's just like wakes up cool, goes to bed, cool, takes naps cool, has a cool dog, has like a funny, like sarcastic husband. Oh, yeah.

Her dog is amazing. Beatrice is the bomb.com. Beatrice was like, we did a live together in like 2020, which was like, my story of like, if you want something, like just shoot your shot. and aim for the stars because like my message to her was like hi like I know that you're probably never going to see this message but like I've been doing lives with authors because of COVID and lockdown and like you're obviously like my dream interview and she was like oh my god sure when I wear so cool and she like when we were interviewing she was like sitting like against her couch and like Beatrice was like snoozing right there oh my god love that

But they're the best. So that is for you, Miss Jessica Noel, the ultimate cool girl. And this is like the ultimate cool book. Like, luckiest girl alive is very heavy, obviously. This one is not as heavy,

and it's just like insane and wild. And fun. And fun. It's in my rotation now. I'm going to bump it up. I have a whole list now. I don't want to. I want to read it again.

For like three or four books forward now, thankfully. Because I need some, like, I need them. I need good ones that I know will be good. I'm reading one I think you might like. Oh, yeah. I'm 65 pages into missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones. It's a Y-A book, which Y-A sometimes, like, it's very hard to work for me. This one's working for me.

Two friends decide that. their like journalism project is going to be to do a podcast about a cheerleader who went missing in their small town like 20 years before. Whoa. Mm-hmm. That sounds good. That really does. Two really good friends decide to do a podcast.

I know. Sounds a little familiar. I think you'll relate. I think you'll relate. I would like to take our podcast on the road and solve a cold case murder, though. I know. Oh, that's another thing that you're going to love in poker face. And I just, I won't say anything more.

Fuck me. Okay. But when you see it, you're going to know. The other thing is they are, I can't remember if I told you this already, they're standalone episodes each time. Episodic. Yes. Yep.

That. I'm literally that kid. If you and a toddler ever want to know what it's like to have a child, just have me around because you taught me the word episodic and like, I can squeeze it into every episode of this podcast until I die. That's how I felt when I learned about it. So, but my point being, you don't have to feel like you have to watch a bunch of it to remember anything.

Like, every single one is just like a completely new story and like Natasha's characters and all of it. But I don't watch her do anything. That's kind of how I felt. I was like, I knew it was getting really good reviews. And I was also like, I feel like I'll like what Natasha does. but there's so many really cool, clever humor reference. Oh, my God.

I can't wait. So, yeah, you will enjoy it, and you're going to have moments or you're like, oh, that's what Kate meant. So. I just see my mom to get home. I know. You think she would watch that, too?

Oh, yeah. We watched the first season of only murders in the building. But she had like a few days before she left. And she was like, what do you want to watch TV? Like, what do you want to watch? And I'm like, well, we can't start anything new because you're leaving, you know? Yeah. And I have no self-control whatsoever.

So I probably would just like finish it. And then she would have been pissed. Yeah. I just have to wait. And she's a little spitfire. I love it, though. Speaking of spitfires, my last recommendation is from a spitfire. of an author named Samantha M. Bailey

watch out for her. Motherfucker. How did I not think of this one? I am, so this is the thing about our friendship. I am so blessed that you thought of this one, even though I was like, damn, she stole one of my other ones. Yes. It is so good.

And it has that, like, it has the same, like, kind of confusing feeling of you where you're like, You just have little bits of information that come together at the end. But it is about Sarah Goldman, mother to six-year-old Jacob, is relieved to move across the country. She has a lot. She wants to leave behind, especially Holly Monroe, the pretty 22-year-old babysitter, she and her husband, Daniel, hired to take care of their young son last summer. It started out as a perfect arrangement. Sarah had a childminder, her son adored, and Holly found the mother figure she'd always wanted.

but Sarah's never been one to trust very easily. So she kept a close eye on Holly, maybe too close at times. When she saw what she saw raised some questions, not only about who Holly really was, but what she was hiding. The more Sarah watched, the more she learned until one day she saw something she couldn't unsee, something so shocking that all she could do is flee. That rhymes. Sarah has put it all behind her and is starting over.

in a different city with her husband and son. They've settled into a friendly suburb where the neighbors, a tight click of good citizens, are always on the lookout for danger. But when Sarah finds hidden cameras in her new home, she has to wonder. Has her past caught up to her and worse yet? Who's watching her now? It's so good. So good.

There's one part I'll tell you off camera that really sticks out with that book. Yeah. But I was like, wow, that was really fucked up and disturbing. but it also made sense to the plot and I was like damn I love her I love her she's so sweet and writes some crazy fun crazy fucking shit yeah watch out for her so good so good it was such a fun read I love that yeah I did too five stars five yeah four stars all five um yeah well those are you recommendations not yet Oh, you have another one.

Nice. I found one on my bookshelf right next to me. I love it. Oh, my gosh. And this one is perfect for fans of you because you know what's better than one stalker? Two? Two stalkers. You know what's better than no sex?

Tons of sex. Tons of sex. Yes, I am talking about couples wanted by Brianna Cole. woman. Beautiful cover. Gorgie, gorgie. Be careful what you switch for. Adventurous and open-minded newlyweds Bridget and Roman are determined to keep their relationship exciting. So when they meet married swingers Corinne and Patrick, they're instantly drawn to their carefree glamour and warm promise of friendship. And after swapping spouses for one passionate, exhilarating night, Bridget and Roman feel fulfilled and closer together than ever.

Until Corinne and Patrick begin to turn possessive, wanting more than them than Bridget and Roman can ever give. Soon the young couple is plunged into a nightmare of suspicion, lies, and secrets in which they can't trust each other or what they think they know about themselves. Push to the breaking point, they must uncover the truth behind the other couple's machinisms machinisms machinisms machinations i've never heard that word before but thank you so when the dust settles there's no guarantee bridget and roman will ever have their love

or anything else left to save wow machinations that sounds amazing oh it's so good do you know what it kind of reminds me of is um like a Tyler Perry thriller Oh, I like that comparison. You know, like, how he does the... They're like a step up from like lifetime movies.

Like, they're just very, like, fast-paced popcorn binge-worthy, like... Kind of soapy. Yeah, like, what's the one with Taraji P. Henson and Idris Elba? Is that Empire? No. No, there's like another movie where he's like a... he's like an escaped prisoner or something and she's like at home and like a storm with a baby and he like asked he used a phone and like he's crazy. I'm looking.

No good deed. Mm-hmm. Yep. I had never heard of this. It's very entertaining. I mean, it's not going to be groundbreaking, but it's very entertaining. But that's just like this book. That's how I felt when I was reading it.

Uh-huh. Not that I don't think it's groundbreaking, because there is something in it that I think is very, like, absent from a lot of thrillers. And she writes such good books. So, Brianna Cole is my girl. I don't think I've read any of hers. There's this one. And then she wrote a second one that I recently read, which has, like, a really gorgeous cover. And it's about, like, two sisters.

And one of them that's murdered. Whoa. So. But this one's just like sexy and like I love the whole like it's kind of like what I was saying about seeing strangers by Sebastian J. Plata is like be careful who you let in your bedroom. Because like to them they're like, yeah, sure, let's spot partners. And then they like they're like, we did that. We feel closer than ever. We're fine.

But the other couple's like we're not letting you go. Obsessive. Mm-hmm. Sexy, sex obsessive. That sounds really good. I'm going to have to read some first. Mm-hmm. It's a lot.

Yeah. I think I've only read two or three, but I will continue to support my girl. Your icebreaker. Oh, my icebreaker. That's why I felt like there was something that I needed to think of. One thing that came to mind, but I'm getting hung up. I'm getting hung up on of everything that I love. What do I want the most?

Right. But I feel like, you know, how don't work. Don't worry, darling. Well, I don't want to give a spoiler. So I won't say that. But I think a continuation of don't worry, darling, that picks up where it ends would be really fun. It was one thing I didn't mind. I agree.

Yeah. I'm sure I could think of others, but that was, I was like, it would be nice to see more of that. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That would be a really good one. ...notice... ...withal...